Home Office

Children: Protection

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take in the light of the South Yorkshire - National Child Protection Inspection post inspection review, published by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in July 2015, and its conclusions that "work has yet to translate into improved practice on the front line and some children have been left at risk of harm".

Lord Bates: Inspectors found that South Yorkshire Police have made child protection a priority and there have been improvements to the force’s initial response when attending incidents involving children at risk. The force is developing new joint working arrangements and structures to improve consistency across its four districts. However South Yorkshire Police must take urgent action to protect children from harm by implementing Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary’s recommendations. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary will continue to monitor South Yorkshire Police’s approach to child protection.We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat to empower forces to maximise specialist skills and expertise to prevent offending and resolve cases. The Home Office provided an additional £10 million in 2015/16 to the National Crime Agency for the creation of additional specialist teams to tackle online child sexual exploitation. We have also made available £1.7 million to fund Operation Hydrant, which coordinates the handling of multiple historical child sexual abuse investigations specifically concerning institutions or persons of public prominence, and £1.5 million to support regional coordinators and analysts to oversee the implementation of the National Policing Plan for tackling Child Sexual Exploitation.Additionally, the Home Office and Ministry of Justice announced an additional £7 million for victims services supporting survivors of sexual violence in 2014/15 and 2015/16.